Board's ban on global warming film challenged

By LISA STIFFLER, P-I REPORTER

Published
10:00 pm PST, Tuesday, January 23, 2007

FEDERAL WAY -- Global warming is no longer up for debate, asserted many parents and residents Tuesday night, challenging the Federal Way School Board's restrictions on the showing of "An Inconvenient Truth."

At a meeting before the board, many said they disapproved of the temporary moratorium on the documentary that tracks human contribution to climate change and the serious environmental damage it's causing. They said the decision by the board to restrict showing the movie in schools stifled free speech.

"There is no scientific controversy," said Paul Levy, a Federal Way resident, addressing the board. It was "a controversy created by non-professionals creating a smoke screen."

But others expressed support for the board's actions.

They offered to provide information that could be used to rebut points made in the documentary and praised the board for its stand.

Thousands of e-mails -- some characterized as "uncivil" -- were sent to district officials after the decision made in early January.

"I'm here to foster healing," board member David Larson told those at the meeting. He also wants to clarify the board's actions.

"We believe the science of global warming needs to be taught in our schools," Larson said. The board's concern was that the film would be shown without any other information sources.

The debate comes as international scientists and major U.S. companies are coming to agreement over the significant threat of manmade global warming.

Federal Way Superintendent Tom Murphy said the film has been shown at three high schools. In each case, additional information was presented questioning some of the movie's claims.

The decision to limit the showing came after Larson received an e-mail from a parent concerned about his daughter seeing the movie.

Board members approved a policy stating that teachers who want to show the movie must ensure that a "credible, legitimate opposing view will be presented," that they must get the OK of the principal and the superintendent, and that any teachers who have shown the film must now present an "opposing view."

District officials said they were simply following policies that require the teaching of both sides of a controversial issue.

The decision outraged parents, former graduates, educators and others, many of whom learned of it in a Jan. 11 story in the Seattle P-I.

The movie, nominated Tuesday for an Academy Award for best documentary, consists largely of a computer presentation by former Vice President Al Gore recounting scientists' findings.

A survey of Puget Sound-area school districts found that most officials were unsure if the movie was being shown in their classrooms, and that it was largely up to teachers and possibly principals to determine how best to handle the issue. In none of the districts had superintendents or school boards dictated what action to take.

Seattle Public Schools spokeswoman Teresa Wippel said the district has policies related to controversial topics or the showing of movies and television shows that might apply to the Gore documentary, but there's been no official ruling on the matter.

Similarly, the Kent School District has policies governing how to handle controversial topics, but officials haven't weighed in on how the movie is used in the classroom.

"Teachers are vested with that responsibility," spokeswoman Becky Hanks said.

In the Bellevue School District, an agreement with the teachers union balances the academic freedom of teachers with the proper treatment of controversial topics. "Controversial issues provide stimulation to learning by stirring intellectual excitement and are thus an integral part of the normal classroom environment ...," the agreement states.

When a controversial topic is taught, it reads, the teacher must provide information on multiple aspects of the issue.

"It's at a teacher's discretion as to whether the material makes sense in their curriculum," spokeswoman Elizabeth Noagi said.

But the issue is still hot enough that some educators won't even take a position.

Asked if the Vashon Island School District had a policy regarding "An Inconvenient Truth," Donna Donnelly, assistant to Superintendent Marguerite Walker, ducked the question.

"We just have no comment on this," she said.

This fall, the debate over "An Inconvenient Truth" as an educational tool flared up when the National Science Teachers Association chose not to send its members free copies of the movie provided by the documentary's producers.